Godstorm: The Fall of Darnthor

Quaggoth

Forgive no-speak Quag, bareskin. They not understand talk of the… civilized. Hee hee… Yes, they hungry you see. And taste of other Quag is much bore now! Yes, bore! Learn that word from fat black-gnome trader – he begged! Begged! But we not care.
I thonot. I speak for Quag. Know them, see. Oh, don’t run! Oh hee hee! Don’t run bareskin, just want to talk! Yes… listen to thonot. Hee… – Wermo Bigtooth the Quaggoth Thonot

The Quaggoth (kwah-goth) are a race of bestial humanoids, savages and cannibals who hunt the vast caverns of the DeepDown. Their fur thickly covers their entire body, bone white or a rich brown – frequently stained in reds, greens, and blues with the blood of their strange prey.
They live and hunt in fierce tribal groups, some of which have a psionically powerful Quaggoth known as a thonot. This thonot takes on the role of shaman, oral storyteller, and (in very limited cases) diplomat. Quaggoth are fiercely independent but have been known to be subjugated, particularly by the Drow.

Quaggoths are large and humanoid, standing at around 7 feet in height and covered in thick fur. Their frame is a mixture of ursine and lupine influences, with long jointed arms and a stocky torso. They are omnivorous, feeding on anything from dwarves and myconids to deer and berries. Their musculature is highly developed – deceptively hidden by their thick coat of fur. Their faces are long and withdrawn, with their lower jaw noticeably developed.

Quaggoths are somewhat intelligent, but ruled by bestial tendencies ever since they were forced into the deep chasms of the DeepDown long ago by Elves. All are capable of some guttural speech in Undercommon or Sylvan, but otherwise lack any capacity for philosophical or moral discussion. Thonots are the only Quaggoths capable of understanding abstract concepts to any extent.

Quaggoths lack talent or capacity for magic, save for the thonots – who have either absorbed psychic energy that tends to be somewhat common in the DeepDown, or touch by the power of a God.

Why we bite them? Quag like Elf, many winter ago. Quag village, Elf village – side by side. Elf make city, but Quag keep village – so Elf take Quag’s everything! Quag village, Quag food, even Quag speak! All take! Why we bite? Because Elf take all, Quag has nothing. And Quag… Quag hungry. – Portarf, thonot telling the tale of the Stealing

The Quaggoths were not always so bestial. Much like elves they spread and prospered on the surface, deep in forests. It was when the two races – Elves and Quaggoths – came to blows, the Quaggoth claim because of elven arrogance, that the civilized race was driven to near extinction.

Some Quaggoths retreated deep into caverns underground until finally making their way into the DeepDown where the Elves dared not tread. The language of the Quaggoth has been lost to the ravages of systematic raiding and extermination.

Quaggoths in the Underdark are occasionally convinced by Drow to follow their quest against surface elves, but this always leads to brutal enslavement. Quaggoths are a embittered race, trusting only the purest forces of nature. Speaking Elvish to a Quaggoth is an invitation to death, and an adventuring party with even a half-elf must be prepared for a tense situation.

Quaggoths don’t interact with most civilization because of their far-off nature, content to stay in their retreats. But many an exotic hunter or frontier settlement will find a swarm of Quaggoth ready to strike them down. The bone-white meat of a Quaggoth is considered a delicacy, and their pelts are a valuable rarity.